In a circular glass room filled with the fragrance of flowers.
–Your Excellency, Director Croft.–
The odd man, standing by the window with his hands on the railing, gazing at the sea of blooms outside, lifted the corner of his eyes and turned his head to look at Gong Huanwu behind him.
He said in a slightly sharp voice:
–These little fellows have sent over their works. Well then, let me see if there’s any promising talent among them.–
Two people entered behind Gong Huanwu, carrying thirty group leader credentials in their hands.
Though the strange man stood only 1.5 meters tall, he exuded an air of sovereign authority.
Faint energy flickered and rose around him, vanishing and reappearing—but one wouldn’t notice these anomalies unless paying close attention.
His method of concealing his aura was far superior to that of the editorial directors.
Looking through them one by one, Croft let out a sigh.
–What a bunch of junk.–
–We humbly ask you to instruct them.–
–Very well, I’ll give you a construction plan for now. But this is not something you could obtain with the Chronos you requested from the Council. It comes from a private collection of a friend of mine.–
–Your friend?–
–Yes, my friend,– Croft said, setting down one of the group leader credentials.
–I can assure you that this construction plan has never been used to build any Demon Palace, and all assessment content is confidential. What’s more, it has passed the Council’s rating review—that’s the most crucial part.–
Croft raised his eyes and swept his gaze over Gong Huanwu.
That look clearly indicated that he was already showing extraordinary leniency.
–Reviewed?- Gong Huanwu brightened. –How many Chronos does your friend plan to sell it for?-
–One million five hundred thousand VZ Chronos. Although it’s very low, I think he’ll accept such a price for the sake of helping these candidates. You understand, just passing the review alone is worth at least two hundred thousand VZ Chronos.-
–Yes, yes, this is indeed the friendship price you, Director, are giving us.-
Gong Huanwu breathed a sigh of relief inside; the man before him had refused to budge for days, but today finally revealed information that could be negotiated.
Just one million five hundred thousand VZ Chronos—surely the two Chief Directors could scrape together that much from their pockets.
……
In the afternoon, even more people packed into the bustling venue.
–Colleagues, please quiet down. I have good news to announce to everyone.-
Opening the session, Gong Huanwu stood by the table, beaming with joy.
In the middle of the room, Huan Bao’er leaned back in her seat, calmly propping her chin with her hand, revealing no emotion.
But Jiao Ma felt that her godmother’s mood was probably not very good this afternoon.
She wondered if it was because the homework everyone had turned in that morning was too poor.
–What good news could it be?-
The whispering crowd gradually fell silent and looked toward the front.
Many group leaders had already guessed they would not be selected and now stared forward with resignation.
–Because of the sudden request to build the Moying Hall, we have applied to the Fate Track and obtained an officer to come and teach everyone how to construct it.-
Gong Huanwu raised his hand in a celebratory gesture, and ribbons conjured by psychic power drifted down from the sky.
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, a figure about one and a half meters tall, unlike a human, walked out leaning on a handrail and came to the center of the table.
Gong Huanwu pointed at him with both hands and said:
–This is the great master who has built more than three Arena Cities, the honorable Secretary Kroft!-
The crowd reacted enthusiastically.
Kroft said in a sharp voice:
–Everyone, no need for formalities. Although I come from above the Fate Track, long ago, like all of you, I started from the very bottom of the Lost Illusion Company and worked my way up step by step.-
He paced a couple of steps by the table, then stood still and said:
-**_I know you are not familiar with the knowledge related to the Moying Hall. This is because the Intersecting Ground is a manifestation of the old world, and this kind of arena, even the Arena City, is filled with man-made illusions everywhere.
–Why is that? Why build something like this?-
He held up one finger.
–Because of secrets.-
–Because of secrets?- Everyone looked at him.
Yang Zicang hadn’t expected that this man would announce a big secret the moment he started speaking.
He suddenly felt a bit panicked, but it was too late to excuse himself to the restroom.
–The Demon Hero Hall is a place only accessible to those with top-tier combat prowess—it’s a screening process. Only those who pass its trials qualify to conduct ‘New Possibility Guidance’ for the old world. At that point, precious bloodlines and other resources will be mobilized by these elites.-
His voice gradually rose in pitch:
–The new future of the world will also be written with them as the protagonists.-
Many people nodded with longing, wearing expressions that said, –So that’s how it is.-
–Well, do you feel the heavy burden on your shoulders now?-
–You are not only the examiners setting the questions, but also the gatekeepers of the world’s new future.-
Croft’s piercing gaze swept across the room.
–If the ones let through are incompetent, then it will be the ultimate destruction of a world—the final doom of billions of living beings!-
Everyone felt the immense weight of their task.
Yang Zicang had expected him to elaborate on the secrets of the old world, but he didn’t, which made Yang breathe a sigh of relief.
–Alright, next up—your evaluation task, you little ones. Honestly speaking.-
The official casually picked up a group leader badge from the box.
–Things like this, in my eyes, are just elementary school graffiti. You still remember what elementary school is, right?-
A ring lit up on his chest, and a dark golden line shot into the void, quickly outlining a towering phantom in the venue.
Everyone looked up—it was a trapezoidal structure with countless tiny lines on it. Upon closer inspection, those lines were actually endless roads.
[Demon Hero Hall Arena City – Ten Thousand Paths Fortress]
[Creator: Dwight Croft]
–This is an early work of mine. You can use it for reference.-
He made the image decompose, revealing the structure inside.
It was truly a maze of complexity.
But for a team entering on their own, it wasn’t overly chaotic.
–A very harmonious design.-
–A work as perfect as the Green Lotus Crown.-
Croft sat down to rest.
Gong Huanwu said:
–Following the esteemed Executive Croft’s suggestion, we hereby announce the group leaders who have obtained senior group leader status: Group 3 leader Zhi Xu, Group 7 leader Qiu Bai, Group 12…-
Each announcement drew excited congratulations. The executive’s words made it clear that this was no ordinary task.
What they were taking on was something that could grant experience in crafting Demon Hero Halls—something 99.9% of the Chosen in this world would never even touch!
–Group 18, leader Jiao Ma.-
–Yeah!- Her department colleagues cheered softly in celebration.
Croft glanced over expressionlessly, then looked away.
……
After the meeting, Huan Bao’er returned to her residence. The Yao Shu Ling in Syn-Link said:
{Should we buy that guy’s Demon Hero Hall design draft? I glanced at a bit—seems like just some design concepts.}
–Just concepts for one hundred fifty thousand Xuling Chronos? Ha, he’s got some nerve asking that price.-
{But I don’t think our little ones can realistically build a Demon Hero-tier arena in four months.}
Huan Bao’er threw herself onto the soft bed, rubbing her smooth forehead with her hand. Her beautiful eyes lost a trace of coldness, gaining much more tenderness as she gazed at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.
–There’s another way, though it’s not really a proper solution.-
{What?}
–Modify the Green Lotus Crown a bit, then spend some Void Chronos to pay the fine and get the committee to remove its information from this year’s Magic Elite reference directory.-
Yao Shu Ling clearly hadn’t expected Huan Bao’er to come up with such an idea.
–Anyway, the bumpkins here have never seen it before.-
{Let them start making it first. I’ll go negotiate with the committee and see if I can get Croft to put in some effort. He doesn’t want to come all this way and leave without earning a single Chronos, does he?}
–Then do your best. I’m too tired these past two days—I’m going to take a bath.-
A playful smile curled at the corner of her lips. –Want to come watch me take a bubble bath?-
The Syn-Link unhesitatingly cut off directly.
……
–Team leader… we’re just going to look at this?-
In the large office belonging to the Jiao Jiao group, a team of nearly forty people stared at the text documents in their hands.
Among long stretches of descriptions were some hand-drawn illustrations scattered here and there.
The sound of pages turning came continuously.
–First do this, then do that, and this thing is built?-
Everyone exchanged bewildered looks.
–Did that staff member on the Fate Trajectory really write this? It’s way too sloppy.-
Yang Zicang and Zorro sat in their seats, feeling dizzy as they looked at these text materials.
I wouldn’t say it’s completely useless, but it’s too abstract. It’s as if Croft had dumped all his construction notes from recent years into one pile, then split them into countless copies and distributed them to over 370 people.
Relying on these guiding principles to build a qualified Magic Hero Hall in four months—that’s quite a tall order.
Wang Dingshan snorted and tossed the papers onto the table.
–What the hell is this? Teach us two tricks—’Kill with a Borrowed Knife’ and ‘Hide the Sky and Cross the Sea’—and then expect us to unify the Eurasian continent?-
Yang Zicang smiled.
–I think there’s no need to be so pessimistic. As long as a few groups work together, at worst we can cut down the numbers, or we can go in batches. All of us have the power of mental manifestation, so it’s relatively easy to modify mental wavebands.-
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